15 Minutes Of Dame Julie Walters On Life, Love And Her Vege Garden

The actress reveals why she's emptying her calendar.

- Robyn Morris

She’s been in the industry for more than 40 years, so it’s no wonder that Dame Julie Walters has become picky when it comes to taking on new acting jobs.

But while she’s reluctant to do hard-hitting roles at 69, Julie admits she’ll never retire fully.

“I’ll always do little bits,” says the actress, whose latest role in Wild Rose is playing a struggling Glaswegian mum to Rose-Lynn, an young aspiring country singer recently released from jail. Julie’s character, Marion, had been looking after her daughter’s two young children and isn’t keen for her to run off to Nashville to pursue her music dreams.

Relating to her character is something that’s important to Julie and considering her own mother wanted her to be a nurse rather than an actress, this role really hit home.

“I understand her totally,” Julie says. “It all seems utterly ridiculous. It did to my mother [who said], ‘An actress? Don’t be silly, you’re watching too much television.’

“But what’s touching about it is they evolve as people, they begin to understand – we need a bit more of that in the world, I’d say.”

In her own words, Julie, who lives on a farm in West Sussex with husband Grant Roffey (62), tells us all about her plans to take some time out this year, her thoughts on how Hollywood is changing and her secret to a happy marriage…

“My main ambition is to get my raised beds planted with vegetables at the moment.